Friday night football brought the Derby Rhône-Alpesto our attention, as Olympique Lyonnais welcomed fierce rivals Saint-Etienne to the Groupama Stadium in France as Ligue 1 restarted after the international break.

The visitors’ fans were barred from the venue due to earlier fixture incident but the game was no less rambunctious. Lyon had fired the first shot even before the game had began by photoshopping an image of the pitch in red, devoid of any ‘green’ that is the signature of Saint-Etienne.

This was a game not just between fourth versus fifth, but between two of the bitterest competitors in Ligue 1.

However, Lyon talisman Nabil Fekir was substituted after the half hour mark and the game – one of the best France has to offer on at least a bi-annual basis – threatened to be a drab affair

A fairly even match where either team could have taken the advantage, it was former Manchester City man Jason Denayar who broke the deadlock after latching efficiently onto a perfect Memphis Depay corner; that brings the ex-Man Utd man up to a contribution tally of 29 goals for the season. There’s not many in Europe who can match that haul.

With Lyon expected to take control of the match, the game was almost thrown into disrepute through the actions of a reckless member of Les Gones. Just before the 70 minute mark, Lyon right-back Rafael produced the most astonishing launching tackle on Yann M’Vila which immediately earned him a straight red from referee Bartolomeu Varela.

The Brazilian’s actions were apparent to all and sundry as entirely unnecessary, with Lyon on the verge of dominance and backed by a vibrant crowd. Lyon manager Bruno Genesio must have been just as dumbfounded as the casual observer with the two-footed tackle – one of the most absurd you’re likely to see in the game - but Rafael at least attempted to milk the dismissal by taking what seemed like half an hour to trudge off the pitch.

28-year-old Rafael is most famous on English shores for his seven-year tenure at Manchester United, where he made over a century of appearances and earned three Premier League tackles.

Lyon eventually saw out the 1-0 win.

You can watch the footage of his ‘horror tackle’ below and judge for yourself.

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